YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia (Kyodo) Just over three months ago, President Dmitry Medvedev paid a brief visit to Kunashiri Island, becoming the first Kremlin leader to visit one of four isles off Hokkaido controlled by Moscow and long claimed by Japan.
Ahead of a meeting between Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Russian counterpart, at which the islands' sovereignty is expected to be raised, Kyodo News in late January visited Kunashiri's port of Furukamappu, known as Yuzhno-Kurilsk in Russia, where infrastructure development and a series of visits by ranking government officials appear to have strengthened Moscow's control.
While locals once used to hope that their island's sovereignty would revert back to Japan, their views have markedly changed during the past 20 years and many islanders now appear ready to turn their back on Tokyo.